


#1: Panic

by Winchester_Writer



Series: 10 Times Tony Stark Saved Peter Parker and 2 Times He Couldn't [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, mentions of depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 00:18:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20126236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Writer/pseuds/Winchester_Writer
Summary: Peter's been struggling with panic attacks. This is the first time he's ever had anyone to help him through it





	#1: Panic

**Author's Note:**

> Mentions of nightmares, depression, and panic attacks.

It started off slowly, so slowly that not even Peter noticed it. A subtle change in his everyday routine, a small tweak in his emotions and thought process. It’s like there was something constantly nagging at the back of his mind, drawing his attention, and slowly growing bigger and bigger. It was small at first, quick bursts of panic, times when Peter would become scared and nervous, his Spidey-senses tingling and perking up as if in danger. But there would never be anything there, never any danger. The first time it happened was while he was hanging out with Ned. The two were in Ned’s room working on a new lego set that Ned had gotten, it was 5000 pieces and a Millenium Falcon replica. Peter was excited and the two were having fun, he forgot about his superhero life for just a second, then it happened. His senses perked and fear racked his body. He excused himself quickly and practically ran to the bathroom. Peter immediately asked Karen if there was any sort of danger to which she quickly replied with a firm, “no.” He was still terrified for some reason, a reason he couldn’t place. It took a good five minutes before he was calm enough to go back to building the Millenium Falcon. That ordeal was the first of many “episodes” that plagued Peter. They became more and more frequent, coming on at Ned’s house, his own apartment, school, and even once or twice while he was patrolling. 

Then the nightmares came. Nightmares that would wake Peter up at two in the morning with sweat pouring down his neck and tears streaming down his face. The first time it happened he brushed it off as a fluke, a one-and-done type ordeal. But then they happened over and over again, each time Peter would wake up more violently. Sometimes screaming, sometimes crying, and other times waking up with a bone-crushing weight in his chest, making it so that he couldn’t breathe properly. After about a month, he just gave up on sleeping, instead he opted for sitting on his bed, and reading or doing some sort of project. 

It slowly got worse and worse, he wasn’t sleeping and the moments of panic were getting worse and worse. It was a school day, he was working with the decathlon team and he got a question wrong. 

“Nice job, Parker. This is why you’re a failure,” Flash had taunted.

It had sent him reeling and Peter left swiftly, finding the nearest empty room, and letting the attack come. He couldn’t breathe, he could barely see, nothing but fear and panic was racking his body. It lasted about 20 minutes, until he finally could breathe properly and walk without shaking. This was the first panic attack in a long series of panic attacks. Within 3 months of the first one, Peter had survived through over 50 panic attacks. They were slowly tearing him apart, on the inside and on the outside. Along with the panic attacks and nightmares and anxiety, came the worst of the worst, the depression. It was eating him from the inside out, eating out a hole in his soul, and leaving an empty space in his life. He had become quiet, withdrawn, he was losing weight swiftly, and his energy was gone. Nothing could excite Peter anymore, not even his twice weekly lab visits with Tony could peak his interest. 

It was a Friday afternoon and it was time for him to go from school to Tony’s lab, but today he had no energy to. He walked out of school and saw Happy sitting in the car waiting for him. He got in and closed the door, not bothering to say anything to Happy. The security guard immediately took notice, realizing that he wasn’t his normal chatty self. They got to the Tower and Peter slumped out of the car, dragging his feet as he walked through the Tower to Tony’s lab. He sat down in a chair and started mindlessly fiddling with some sort of project. Mr. Stark wasn’t there yet and he assumed that he was in some sort of meeting. Peter couldn’t stand it anymore, the blackness was overwhelming, it was eating away at him and he didn’t know how to handle it. 

That’s when the panic set in, the attack came on quickly. Peter stood up off the chair and found the nearest corner of the room, practically falling into the corner, his arms clutching his legs to his chest. The voices were so loud, the panic thrumming in his ears like a jack-hammer, it was all he could focus on. His vision was clouded over, his senses were going crazy, tingling and standing up as if he was in imminent danger. The tears came then, spilling over and rolling down his cheeks, splashing onto the ground below him. Peter was shaking, just as violently as the thrumming in his ears, and he couldn’t stop it. It was too loud, too scary, too painful, he just wanted it to stop. 

“Why won’t it stop?” he practically yelled out.

That’s when Tony walked in, stopping dead in his tracks, watching the sight before him play out. 

“Kid?” Tony asked. 

There was no response, just more shaking and crying. 

“Karen, what’s wrong?” 

“It seems Peter is experiencing a panic attack, Sir. If left unchecked it could lead to nausea, vomiting, and blackouts.”

“Crap,” Tony thought to himself, “I know what that feels like.” 

Tony made his way over to Peter, slowly, not wanting to scare him any worse than he already was. 

“Hey Underoos,” Tony spoke as he approached, “you’re okay, I’m here now.” 

Peter didn’t bother to look up, he could barely register the voice over the thumping in his chest and the drilling in his mind. Tony was by his side now, kneeling next to him. Tony was scared too, he didn’t really know how to handle this, how to comfort someone else. He had experienced his own panic attacks, the scared feeling, the violent noise in your head, feeling your heart beat out of your chest, but he had never helped someone else through it. Tony took a breath, a shaky one and then slowly reached out towards Peter. 

“Hey, Pete. I’m here now, okay? It’s me Tony, I’m talking to you, I’m here with you. Kid, I need you to breathe, please. If you don’t you’re gonna make yourself sick and we don’t want that, okay. I’m gonna touch your hand now, okay?”

Tony warned him before his hand gently came down to rest on Peter’s hand. He knew that if he didn’t warn him beforehand, Peter could easily be sent into a state of even worse panic. Peter didn’t flinch when Tony touched his hand, he just continued to sit there, shaking. 

“You scared me there, Underoos. I thought you got hurt, kid, but you’re not. I do need you to breathe though, kid. You’re not gonna feel too good if you don’t breathe. Here, follow me, I’ll do it with you.”

Tony breathed slowly, squeezing Peter’s hand when he breathed in and letting go when he breathed out. After a couple of minutes, Peter’s breathing was synced with Tony’s and the two sat there in silence, simply breathing. Finally, after about 10 minutes, Peter was breathing clearly and the tears that were streaking his face were falling slowly. 

“Good job, kid, good job.”

Peter looked up slowly and it suddenly dawned on Tony that he was still just a kid. He was a scared teen that had seen way too much crap in his life. Tony’s heart broke ever so slightly at that realization and for a second he wished that he had never dragged Peter into the airport battle, into this world. 

Peter’s eyes were red and puffy, tears still pooled at the corners of his eyes. He took a shaky breath and then spoke. 

“M’ter Stark?”

“Hey Underoos. Welcome back.”

Peter reached out for him and Tony realized exactly what he wanted. He sat down next to Peter swiftly and wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders. Peter immediately leaned into Tony and sighed. 

“I’m s’rry,” he choked out.

“It’s okay, Pete. You’re fine. Just breathe, okay?”

The two sat there like that for about half an hour and finally, Peter was calmed down enough to talk and function slightly.

“Hi, Mr. Stark.”

“Hey, Pete.”

“I’m sorry about all that.” 

“Nothing to apologize for, Underoos.”

“It just came on so fast, Mr. Stark.”

“I know, kid. I get them too, they can hit whenever and they can hit hard sometimes.”

“Been having em a lot, Mr. Stark.”

“When did they start, kid?”

“After Vulture, being stuck under the building.”

“What?”

“That night, when I fought Vulture. We were fighting in a building and he broke it. Bunch of the building came crashing down on me. Was all alone and had to crawl out.”

Tony swore in his head, “Now it makes sense,” he thought.

“I’m so sorry, Pete. I should have never let that happen.”

Peter buried his head into Tony’s shoulder. 

“Not your fault, M’ster Stark.”

“Alright kid, whatever you say,” he really didn’t want to argue with the kid right now. 

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. I feel better now.”

“No need to thank me, Underoos.”

Ten minutes later, Peter was snoring softly into Tony’s shoulder and he smiled. 

“Hey Karen, get a picture of this.” 

Karen took a picture and then Tony slowly started moving. He slid out from Peter and let Pete’s head rest on the wall for a second. He stood up and then bent over, he grabbed Peter and stood up. Tony carried Peter bridal style through the tower, he set Peter down in the guest bedroom, and pulled the covers up around him. He went out into the living room of the Tower and sat down, pondering everything that had happened. 

Peter emerged from the bedroom about an hour later, messy hair, and over-sized sweatshirt hanging off of his body. Tony noticed that and realized he must have lost a ton of weight in these past couple of months. Tony got up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a protein bar, he threw it at Peter with a, “hey, Underoos.” 

Peter caught the protein bar and opened it. The two of them walked side by side back down to the lab and when they got there, Peter smiled up at Tony. 

“Thank you for saving me, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled down at him, “I’ll always be here to save you, Pete, whenever you need me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos much appreciated!
> 
> Hi everyone!! This is my first ever Marvel fanfic and first ever time posting. I know I'm not a great writer and I don't have anyone proofreading. But I'm trying. I apologize if this fic is absolutely terrible (it probably is). Anyway, comments and kudos and feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!!


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